Aged 90, Mr Fisher had recently returned from Jerusalem, where he lay a wreath to Sjt Staples, who was among 91 people killed when the militant right-wing Zionist underground organisation, the Irgun, blew up the King David Hotel, on July 22, 1946.

Sjt Staples' niece, Julia Fearn, from Selby, was among those who answered the plea.

"Our family is extremely touched that Mr Fisher has taken the trouble to go over there and honour Arnold," she said. "I am completely overwhelmed by it. What a lovely gesture.

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Following the bombing, editorials in British newspapers argued that the attack had deflated statements by the government that it had been winning against the Jewish paramilitaries.

Tragic as the attack was, however, it did not change Britain's stance toward an Anglo-American agreement on Palestine.

In a letter dated July 25, 1946, Prime Minister Attlee wrote to US president Harry Truman wrote: "I am sure you will agree that the inhuman crime committed in Jerusalem on 22 July calls for the strongest action against terrorism but having regard to the sufferings of the innocent Jewish victims of Nazism this should not deter us from introducing a policy designed to bring peace to Palestine with the least possible delay."